Kean & Byrne: Americans want gun legislation

This video frame grab provided by Senate Television shows Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., using a poster of weapons as she speaks about gun legislation. AP Photo/Senate Television

The following exchange between former New Jersey governors Brendan T. Byrne and Tom Kean took place in a Thursday teleconference.

GOV. BYRNE: I’d like to begin by wishing you a happy birthday, Tom.

GOV. KEAN: At this point, I’m not counting.

Q: Realizing that at this moment we know relatively little about the Boston bombing, is there any level of security that could stop every incident like this?

BYRNE: I remember the one time I ever talked to Eleanor Roosevelt, she told me Franklin had said to her that if somebody wanted to kill him, they could — maybe at the risk of being caught, but they could. So it would be very difficult.

GOV. KEAN: What we can do is try to make people safer. The proliferation of cameras will help. But in the end we must continue to rely on an alert citizenry, people who spot something unusual and report it. That’s probably the best chance of stopping these incidents in the future.
Q: After the U.S. Senate rejected the enhanced background check proposals, do you see a realistic chance of any gun legislation in Washington?

BYRNE: I think the constant pressure to pass gun legislation eventually will have an effect, because a majority of Americans clearly want gun legislation. With that pressure, there’s bound to be some eventual response.

KEAN: They’ll try again, but probably only after more innocent Americans die. The Senate should be ashamed of itself for allowing special interests to prevail over the public interest. Sometimes I think we should defeat them all and start again.

BYRNE: The U.S. Supreme Court is not helping with its interpretation of the Constitution on firearms, specifically to the extent of Second Amendment protections.

KEAN: I’ll defer to my friend on legal issues.

Q: Do you see any realistic chance for immigration reform?

BYRNE: I think they’re working it out. From what I read, it sounds to me that they’re coming to a consensus.

KEAN: It looks hopeful. We have a bipartisan group working very hard. But we had bipartisan cooperation on gun control, too, so you can never overestimate the chances of something bad happening. But I’m hopeful.
Q: Will there be any long-term impact on Rutgers from the Coach Rice fiasco?

BYRNE: As we speak, Rutgers is negotiating over a candidate for the coaching job. It’s a question of big bucks. Why not just put a salary on the job and not a negotiable one? Why? One word: market.

KEAN: My hope is that, after all this, Rutgers will get back to arguing about its academic future. The purpose of the university is to educate students and do research. There’s a lot on President Barchi’s plate. We can turn Rutgers into one of the 10 best public academic institutions in the country. We have to keep our eye on that ball, and not basketball.

BYRNE: I would like to add that I have to admit I like to see Rutgers win.

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Q: Did the appropriate people receive the appropriate punishments?

BYRNE: I would have no comment on that.

KEAN: I never saw the tape. I’ll have to defer to Rutgers’ wisdom in that matter.
Q: Gov. Christie has revived his tax cut proposal. Do you think we’ve reached a point in the recovery when that’s a wise move?

BYRNE: I think we’re shorting a lot of programs and accumulating a lot of debt. Tax cuts would not be my priority under those circumstances.

KEAN: New Jersey is still overtaxed and overregulated, and until we address those problems we will never have a real recovery or create the kinds of jobs New Jersey needs.